‘Religiousness in Yoga: Lectures on Theory and Practice’ by the University Press of America,
a transcript of recordings of a one month Yoga Programme in Colgate University in 1976, published in 1980.

Unlike the later redacted edition, re-published in 1995 as the ‘Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice’, it captures the evolution of the retreat with the days lectures and Q & A dialogues as they alternated between ‘lectures on the principles and purposes of Yoga and discussions related to the practice of Yoga with special reference to the postures and the breathing techniques’.

TKV Desikachar, in his forward to the original version wrote:
“These lectures and discussions, printed words put before persons I might never meet,
are but reflections of that deeper result that grew out of a living face-to-face encounter.
Coming to learn of Yoga only through reading leaves much to be desired.
Yet, something worthwhile about Yoga might be shared through the medium of the printed word.”

A chapter by chapter Study guide is offered below with added verse and word cross-references where possible to support a deeper linking with the teachings within these lectures and Q & A sessions.

Chapter 18 Theory: The Way the Mind Functions and the Concept of Nirodha Pages 251-254

1. The mind functions at five levels P251-252

• Mostly it functions in a way that we hardly notice it
• It is distraught and cannot comprehend anything
• This level of functioning is called Kṣipta – Yoga Sūtra I 1 Vyāsa’s commentary
• A slightly better condition than Kṣipta is called Muḍha – Yoga Sūtra I 1 Vyāsa’s commentary
• Here the mind is like a dull, sleepy, heavy buffalo
• Another way the mind functions is called Vikṣipta – Yoga Sūtra I 1  Vyāsa’s commentary
• We act but we have doubts
• The fourth way the mind functions is called Ekāgrata – Yoga Sūtra I 1 Vyāsa’s commentary
• We have clarity and are able to proceed
• This is also called Dhāraṇā – Yoga Sūtra III 1
• Yoga is actually the beginning of Ekāgrata – Yoga Sūtra I 1 Vyāsa’s commentary
• When Ekāgrata develops it culminates in what is called Nirodha – Yoga Sūtra I 1 Vyāsa’s commentary
• This is the moment when the mind functions with no division of activity
• The word Nirodha also means “restraint” – Yoga Sūtra I 2

2. How then do distractions come about? P252-253

• They are there because the mind (Citta) has various modes of action – Yoga Sūtra I 6
• Inference – Yoga Sūtra I 7
• The mind can conjure things based on words – Yoga Sūtra I 9
• The mind has the faculty of retaining something that has been experienced – Yoga Sūtra I 11
• It is possible for us to imagine things – Yoga Sūtra I 9
• The mind has also inherited the possibility of inaction – Yoga Sūtra I 10
• All activities of mind can be favourable or unfavourable – Yoga Sūtra I 5

3. What we try and do in Yoga P253

• Yoga is simply to create conditions so that the mind becomes a most useful instrument
• This gradual progression may involve a number of intelligent means
• All of which come within the real of Yoga Sādhana
• At different times and for different people different suggestions are necessary

4. What happens in a state of Nirodha? P253-254

• The clarity that this brings about is total and complete – Yoga Sūtra I 48
• We can see beyond the normal threshold of observation – Yoga Sūtra I 49
• That is why they say a Yogi is a wise man
• He has seen more than others, and he has seen it ahead of others

Follow this link for a Downloadable PDF version of the Chapter Eighteen Study Guide

Follow this Link for Downloadable PDF’s of all the Previous Chapters